The Lion’s Triumph
The moment I confirmed her identity, I didn’t hesitate and unleashed my sword technique.
She transferred her soul into the body of a first-rank monster, Pika tail, but this time, Lee Ga-hyeon couldn’t escape death.
The sword strike fell to the ground, tearing her body into shreds, and her soul stone was spat out.
Her final moments were ugly, without honour.
‘Well, demons don’t really have honourable deaths in the first place…’
It wasn’t a bad way to go from a villain’s perspective.
Of course, the Lee Ga-hyeon I killed was just an avatar. As long as her true body existed, this wasn’t truly the end.
When I eventually confront her main body, it won’t end as anticlimactically as this.
It will be fierce, no doubt.
Defeating her avatar didn’t make me overconfident.
I picked up the soul stone that had fallen into the grass.
“So, this is the soul stone.”
It was smaller than my index finger, shaped like a sphere, emitting a brilliant light as if a rainbow were embedded within a translucent blue crystal.
[Incomplete Soul Stone of the Puppet Witch]
- Consumable Category: Soul Stone
- Detailed Description:
- A soul stone containing a fragment of the soul of Lee Ga-hyeon, the Puppet Witch of the Demon Council’s Six Demons.
- It has value as a crafting material but is incomplete, so its usefulness is limited.
- Detailed Effect:
- When used as crafting material, there is a small chance of imbuing physical enhancement to the equipment. (Success Rate: 2% / Failure Rate: 98%)
I double-checked the soul stone through the status window and felt relieved.
At least I had achieved the goal of weakening her main body by eliminating her avatar, thus reducing the overall difficulty of future story developments.
My gaze shifted to a specific spot.
‘What a lucky coincidence. Who would’ve thought she’d be here?’
Among the two presences I initially sensed, the other one besides Lee Ga-hyeon.
A female examinee with jewel-like green eyes was standing with her back to the gate.
She was a significant character in the game.
‘I only saw her from a distance during the second test, but this is the first time meeting face to face.’
One of the protagonist Kang Han-byeol’s party members.
A direct descendant of the distinguished Spirit Arts family, part of the Ten Great Clans.
Cha Eun-sol, the Lazy Genius of the Circulation House.
I spoke to her, acknowledging her contribution to capturing Lee Ga-hyeon.
“Thanks for your help. I wouldn’t have been able to catch the escaping demon so easily without you.”
She just stared at me silently.
Her eyes glowed brightly, surrounded by semi-transparent spirit animals.
A green eagle, a red mouse, a yellow fox, a blue deer…
There was quite a variety.
They were spirits lending their strength to her, seemingly ready to attack at her command.
‘I heard Cha Eun-sol is always surrounded by numerous spirits, but seeing it in person… It’s impressive.’
A Spirit Summoner’s ability is judged by the number and strength of the spirits they control, as well as their connection and command over them.
Even without knowing the intricacies of Spirit Arts, I could sense her overwhelming talent.
She was as much a monster as Nam Yu-ri, albeit in a different way.
‘And if that monster were to go berserk, the world would be in danger.’
There was a game ending related to Cha Eun-sol—naturally, a bad ending.
One that led to the world’s destruction.
Recalling that ending, I decided to introduce myself.
“I’m Do Gyeon-woo. You’ve heard of the Divine Sword House, right?”
Cha Eun-sol remained silent, still just staring at me, her glowing eyes devoid of readable emotion.
It seemed almost threatening, but I knew her nature, so I wasn’t nervous.
“Can I know your name too?”
After a moment of silence, she finally spoke.
“Cha Eun-sol.”
With Lee Ga-hyeon now gone, Cha Eun-sol calmed the spirits and dimmed her glowing eyes.
Then she abruptly turned away.
“I’m sleepy. I’m going back to sleep.”
And without another word, she soared into the sky and quickly disappeared.
“Typical Cha Eun-sol.”
Despite all that had transpired, she didn’t ask a single question about what happened in the forest or why the demon was there.
She simply chose to leave, prioritizing her drowsiness over curiosity.
I looked up at the sky, where dawn was breaking, and let out a bitter smile.
‘Looks like they’re finally here.’
I sensed the approaching presences—it was likely the exam evaluators.
A short while later…
“Sorry for being late! Are you hurt anywhere, examinee?”
“We can’t see the Puppet Witch. Did she escape?”
As expected, the evaluators arrived, looking disheveled from running through the forest.
I replied calmly.
“She’s already dead.”
“What?”
“I killed her. She’s gone.”
“No way… Did you get the soul stone?”
To prove it, I showed them the soul stone in my hand.
One of the evaluators, who appeared to be the lead examiner, looked flustered.
“W-We need to confirm if that’s truly the Puppet Witch’s soul stone. Could you hand it over for verification?”
I knew they needed to be cautious, but I had no intention of complying.
“Sorry, but I can’t do that. It’s my loot, after all.”
“It’s just for verification, not to take it away…”
“I understand, but it’s too valuable, and there’s a chance another avatar might appear. I can’t take that risk.”
When they hesitated, I made a suggestion.
“How about I hand it to the Seven-Colored Witch? She’s more reliable.”
“The Seven-Colored Witch… You mean Hong Ye-na?”
“Yes. She’s here, right? I’ll entrust it to her.”
Among the evaluators, I couldn’t trust everyone.
Hong Ye-na, however, was trustworthy.
The evaluators couldn’t argue against my decision.
Eventually, they had no choice but to fetch Hong Ye-na, who had been helping relocate the other examinees.
When she arrived, she seemed weary.
“Must you always make me do this? You could’ve asked any other evaluator.”
“I wouldn’t trust just anyone with something this valuable. Please take care of it.”
With a reluctant sigh, she took the soul stone from me, muttering complaints but ultimately agreeing.
‘With Hong Ye-na in charge, I can relax… for now.’
‘Chairwoman So Hye-yul will probably take care of the aftermath somehow…’
It made sense, considering her personality, but I couldn’t be entirely sure.
All I could do was wait patiently and see how she would respond.
In the meantime, there was still some time left before the exam officially ended.
It wasn’t over yet.
To relay this fact, the evaluators were running through the forest, shouting to the examinees.
“Since the confusion has been resolved, we will resume the exam! Examinees, please check the notifications on your Gate Watch. And examinee number 1532.”
“Yes.”
“Although the other examinees who fought alongside you should be hearing this by now, do not disclose the incident regarding the defeat of the Puppet Witch. This applies even after the exam is over. We are not just trying to prevent unrest among the examinees and the public, but also to avoid making you a target of the Demon Council. Do you understand?”
“…Yes, I’ll keep it a secret.”
The supervisor, who had been keeping watch, gave me this piece of advice.
I nodded without arguing.
It was exactly what I wanted.
Although the game’s storyline would inevitably lead to encounters with the Demon Council someday, I had no intention of provoking that now.
‘Still, there’s no way I can keep it a secret forever that I killed Lee Ga-hyeon.’
It was unavoidable.
Sooner or later, the truth would come out, and when it did, Lee Ga-hyeon would know of my existence.
I just hoped it would happen later rather than sooner, giving me enough time to grow strong enough to face her true body.
For now, I needed to finish the exam.
Just then, my Gate Watch buzzed with a new message.
[Exam Resumption Notice]
- Please continue the exam.
- The end time is 9:00 AM.
- There are no changes to the Gate’s designated location.
- Remaining time: 03:34:27
I read the message and fell into thought.
‘What’s the best course of action…?’
Honestly, I was practically guaranteed to pass the exam already.
Just with the exam tickets pinned to my clothes, I had more than 200 points.
The additional tickets that I had set aside during the fight with Lee Ga-hyeon were currently with Go Eun-bi, but the ones I had were more than enough.
My grades were secured.
There was no need to rob other examinees of their tickets.
‘Besides, I don’t have the strength right now…’
I had used up a lot of stamina and mana.
Not having slept properly and fighting all night had left me exhausted.
In my current state, it was wiser to find a secluded spot and rest until the exam ended.
At that moment…
“Ah! Found you! Gyeon-woo!”
“Huh? Oh… You guys are here.”
“I’m so glad it turned out well.”
“Do Gyeon-woo! I heard what happened! You actually took her down, right?”
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
Go Eun-bi, Yeon Ha-neul, Yong Hae-rang, and Lisa emerged from the forest.
Seeing me, they looked genuinely relieved and happy.
I was just as glad to see them.
But Min Ah-rin and Nam Yu-ri were nowhere to be seen.
“Where’s Nam Yu-ri and Min Ah-rin? Didn’t they come with you?”
Go Eun-bi explained.
“Min Ah-rin said she’d spend the remaining time collecting exam tickets and went off on her own. As for Nam Yu-ri… she just said, ‘Since Gyeon-woo isn’t here anymore and the situation seems handled, I’m off! See you, guys!’ and left.”
Go Eun-bi mimicked Nam Yu-ri’s voice perfectly, making me chuckle.
Then she handed me the bag she was carrying.
“Oh, and I brought all the tickets you gathered! Here you go, Gyeon-woo.”
“Ah, you kept them safe! I was worried about that—thanks a lot.”
“No worries! I ended up collecting quite a few myself, too!”
I took the bag from Go Eun-bi.
Inside were all the exam tickets I had gathered so far.
With this, I no longer had to worry about the exam.
Yeon Ha-neul looked at the tickets and asked,
“That’s quite a lot… So, what’s the plan now?”
The others looked at me expectantly, waiting for my decision.
‘Looks like they’re counting on me to take the lead.’
Even Yong Hae-rang, who usually had a competitive streak, commented,
“Hmph. I’d love to spar with you right now, but since neither of us is in top condition, I guess we’ll have to postpone it.”
The way they looked at me was somewhat embarrassing, but not unpleasant.
I spoke up.
“Since we’ve all gathered enough tickets and are pretty worn out from fighting, how about we find a quiet spot and rest until the end of the exam?”
“Yes! I’m all for it!”
“Sounds good to me.”
“If you insist, I guess I’ll agree.”
“I agree too.”
The four of them readily accepted the idea.
Though they hadn’t shown it, they were clearly tired from the night’s battles.
With a decent number of skilled people, we took turns standing guard while the others rested in a shaded, breezy spot.
A while later…
[Exam has ended.]
[All examinees, please head to the gate with your tickets.]
[From now on, any fighting among examinees will result in penalties.]
The long exam was finally over.
We gathered our things and moved toward the gate, where evaluators were already inspecting the tickets.
We queued up and waited for our turn.
“Examinee number 1532, you’ve passed. You did well. Barring any unexpected events, you’re likely to be the top scorer for the fifth practical exam.”
“Is that so? Then can I leave now?”
“Yes, you may. However…”
Just as I was about to exit through the gate, the evaluator added,
“Examinee number 1532… no, Do Gyeon-woo.”
“Yes?”
“The Chairwoman has requested to see you as soon as you leave.”
The Chairwoman of Geumgang Academy.
The Witch of the Stars, So Hye-yul.
Finally, she made her move.
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